Flyers roll to clinch playoff spot

SUNRISE, Fla. — Blessed with a long-sought breather in an otherwise unforgiving schedule stretch drive, the Flyers followed up a much-needed win over Buffalo Sunday with a four-goal second period Tuesday night en route to a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center.

Vinny Lecavalier and Sean Couturier sandwiched goals around a pair of them by a rejuvenated Claude Giroux in that second period, and with that, a long-sought playoff invitation was finally answered by the Flyers.

So let the party begin, but let it start with a warning...

“Obviously, last year with us not making the playoffs, in Philadelphia that’s unacceptable,” Giroux said. “We’re aware of that. For us to be able to be in playoffs this year, especially with the start we had, I think we should be proud of ourselves. But we have to make sure we keep playing like that.”

Even in beating a Panthers team had won just twice in its previous 10 games, the Flyers showed how imperfect but explosive they can be. They started slowly, blew an extended power play chance in the first period that included 1:41 of two-man advantage, then blew the Panthers away in the second period.

After Lecavalier scored at 2:02 of that middle frame, Giroux cranked up his 26th and 27th goals of the season in a span of 2:31 to post a 3-zip lead. Then Couturier converted on a rebound left in a chaotic Panthers defensive zone, and it was suddenly almost time hold a clinching party.

But then the Flyers came out sleepy in the third, allowing Florida (28-44-8, 64 points) to score two quick goals then go on a power play and threaten to make it a real game again. Finally the Flyers seemed to stiffen, throwing a stingy penalty kill at the Panthers and settling their own game down. Shortly thereafter, Lecavalier set up Tye McGinn for a goal at 15:06, finally putting the Panthers down.

So let the party begin ... but is that any way for a playoff team to act?

“The third period tonight, I think that’s not acceptable,” Giroux said. “We let (Steve) Mason play by himself. We need to do a better job of playing in the third period. We have to get dialed in at the end of a game like this.

“We kind of took our foot off the gas. That’s not acceptable whether it’s 4-nothing or 1-1. We have to keep playing the same way. We have three (more) games to kind of keep working on our game and be ready for the playoffs.”

Though their postseason appearance is now ensured, the Flyers (41-29-9, 91 points) are still fighting off the Columbus Blue Jackets (89 points), who had to go to overtime to beat Phoenix Tuesday night. The Flyers remain two points behind the Rangers (93 points), but have a game in hand over New York in the Metropolitan Division race.

Whichever team out of those three finishes the season third will likely go in as a wild card against either Pittsburgh or Boston. So who wants to do that?

“We want to finish the season strong ... we want to finish the right way,” said Lecavalier, who centered a fourth line with McGinn and Adam Hall which was very effective. “We have accomplished something; from the first 10 games at the beginning of the year, we have to be proud of what we’ve done. But we have to finish strong and make sure we’re ready and confident.”

The Flyers lost their first three games of the season, changed coaches, won a game then lost four more times in a row while Craig Berube tried to institute a new system of play. It was at that point, the club 1-7, that Giroux declared the Flyers would make the playoffs.

“I just believed in our team, that we had a good team,” he said. “We had four lines rolling. We have eight D that can play a lot of minutes and we have two good goaltenders. But just the way we’re playing, we need to still get better.”

To Berube, the most significant improvement came on a cross-country road trip just after Christmas that saw them win five of six games, then beat Montreal on their first night back at home on Jan. 8.

“Pretty good,” Berube said. “I think that made believers out of our team more than anything and put us in a good situation.”

There were more highs and lows to follow, but they didn’t detract from a fairly steady rise as the season went along. Now the Flyers have followed up a terrific February and March with some so-so play in April, but made sure to close down two lower-level teams in Buffalo and Florida the last two games in order to nail down a playoff spot.

According to general manager Paul Holmgren, however, it was the appointment of Berube after the season’s first three games that ultimately proved to be the difference.

“He’s been keeping our players on an even keel from the start,” Holmgren said Tuesday night. “Chief’s done a good job. He put a system in place that the players stuck to pretty well. I’ve said before he’s one of the smartest guys I know in the game. He played a thousand games or so in this league ... he’s a good student of the game. He shows the video and he shows stuff on the ice; ‘This is what you need to do, this is where you’re making mistakes as a team, this is where you’ve got to get better as a team.’

“He’s just a no-bull, no-nonsense guy.”

It took a long run, but it’s paid off with a playoff spot. Where it goes from here, however, should be utmost in the minds of the players.

After a quick pat on the back, of course.

“I told the guys, ‘You ought to be proud of yourselves.’ They went through a lot, they battled all year,” Berube said. “They’re a good group of guys, good character and they deserve a lot of credit for making the playoffs.”